Sex Hormone Replacement

Sex Hormone Replacement: Important Anti-Aging tools but are they safe? The Bottom Line

Testosterone Replacement Therapy for men [TRT] and Hormone Replacement Therapy for women [HRT] have major benefits in term of symptom relief and long term health.

A casual un-analytic search on the internet will bring up lots of negative information about potential risks for cancer or cardiovascular disease that is completely untrue for either TRT or HRT. The sex hormones testosterone [T] and oestradiol [E2] have many benefits in our pursuit of a longer HealthSpan, so I strongly recommend them to both men and women.

Musculoskeletal Problems

Summary

Musculoskeletal deterioration is a major cause of loss of function as we age. From 50 onwards loss of muscle, bone mass and collagen lead to reduced strength, susceptibility to fracture, and problems with joints. When somebody is 70 and these problems have been going on for 20 years, they frequently are frail. Frailty is a specific term for a tragic inability to perform daily acts of living and consequently reduced independence. When we say ‘so and so is looking old …’ what we mean is they are looking frail.

Dem Bones, Dem Bones – how to stop fractures

Osteoporosis means ‘bone with holes in it’ and is the cause of significant later life problems.

The figures are that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men suffer osteoporotic ‘fragility fractures ‘of the hip, spine ribs or limbs. The fractures usually occur over age 65 unless someone has additional risk factors such as taking corticosteroids, a history of anorexia [so bones thinned at an early stage of adulthood] or alcoholism.

Blow me down with a feather- where did all that muscle go?

You know the story: “Mum’s got a bit frail… Dad has difficulty getting up the stairs, now … my folks don’t seem to be able to do much for themselves these days, it’s very sad to see”

This is frailty – a combination of loss of muscle [sarcopaenia] and loss of strength [dynopaenia] that causes adverse outcomes, eg difficulties in all activities of daily living, likelihood of osteoporosis and falls, also meaning higher risk of hospitalisation, a longer hospital length of stay and risk of re-admission if there is an illness. The final consequences are loss of independence and death sooner than might be expected. The good news is you can prevent it or recover from it.

Body Composition, not Body Weight

You may think being on top of age means being weight obsessed. But in reality, it is the quality of what your body consists of that is important in terms of limiting ageing.

The key is having a sense of how much muscle [positive] you have and how much central fat [potentially damaging] you have gained.

So the number on the scale is less important  as long as you are travelling in the right direction.